Nowadays consumers are confronted with an ever-increasing amount of data, which is presented to them. Nearly every device comprises at least a small display to output data so as to instruct or inform a user. Examples are any kind of domestic appliances such as a washing machine, a dishwasher, an oven, a mixer, a coffee machine, etc. Besides this there are a lot of devices whose destination is simply playing back data. Examples are consumer electronics such as a TV set, a radio, a CD player, a DVD player/recorder, a video tape recorder, a hard disk recorder, a set top box, etc.
In addition to data which are shown to a user there are a lot of “hidden” data, which are stored for later use and which are used under certain circumstances only. Nearly every device in this context comprises a memory for storing operating data such as error messages for instance. To support a technician, who repairs faulty devices, this memory can be read out so that the technician can see the history of the machine. Yet another example for such data are data associated with playback data played by a device. Such associated data are often referred as “meta data” or as “(file) properties”. Thanks to an ever increasing bandwidth said associated data may be transmitted in addition to pure playback data (e.g. video and audio) via broadcast channels or may be stored on data carriers respectively. Hence the video and audio data of a TV program, which program needs a backward channel (e.g. for shopping or voting), may additionally be provided with associated data such as a backward address (e.g. a telephone number or an internet address). It should be noted that data in dialable format are meant here, not the data displayed on the screen of a TV-set which are only visible but not dialable. A telephone or a computer connected to the TV-set can extract the associated data, for example a telephone number in ASCI format and automatically connect to the right subscriber.
It should further be noted that in fact “hidden” data may be presented to a user at the moment of generation, meaning that data are output and stored in parallel. One example would be the temperature of a washing machine, which is output to a display of the machine as well as stored in a memory for logging reasons. But it is also imaginable that the associated data mentioned above are output to a small display of the TV set or that their presence is indicated with a small light at least.
It is the nature of the above-mentioned data that they are not always used but only occasionally. It could happen for example that a user wants to order a product a while after he has seen a TV program on a shopping channel. It could even happen that meanwhile he has switched off the TV set. If so, he has to switch on the TV set again to access the memory that stores the wanted telephone number. Coming back to operating data it could happen that a device is seriously damaged to such an extent that it cannot be switched on, maybe because the power supply is broken or an electric circuit causes a short circuit. In such a case it is well-nigh impossible to access the operating data in the memory which might be exactly what is needed to determine whether it is reasonable to repair the device or not. On the grounds that there are methods to circumvent mentioned lacks in principle, there were no intentions to solve these problems or even to recognize the problem. However, taking into consideration what was mentioned above, one can easily understand that prior art devices are very inconvenient in this respect.